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This conference is the second of a series of three meetings, as part of a cooperation initiative between the CELIA Paris, UFAM Manaus, Leiden University, and the VU University Amsterdam research centers. The themes to be discussed at the second meeting are 'nominalization' and 'word-prosodic systems'. Although the nature of the meeting is that of a seminar for which part of the contributors are individually invited, there is space in the program for non-invited speakers, which we wish to encourage submitting a paper through this call. In addition, the meeting is open for students and scholars that are interested in assisting without presenting a paper.

Call for Papers

The conference themes are:

Nominalization and Subordination Since deverbal nouns have the ability to recover the arguments of their finite counterpart, nominalization is one of the procedures that languages make use of to put a verbal predicate in a position of dependence with regard to another predicate. The link between nominalization and subordination is more or less tight cross-linguistically. Very visible in Turkish, Tzeltal, or Arabic, it is pervasive in the Amazonian languages. Several typological issues must be addressed in considering the relation between subordination and nominalization. First, the way in which the recovery of arguments is achieved, since the case assigner is a noun. When the nominalization concerns a transitive verb, one observes a relatively general tendency for ergative alignment, which has a direct incidence on the way syntactic pivots are established between the main clause and the subordinate clause. Second, the loss of the finiteness properties of the verb and the acquirement of typical nominal categories (gender-classes, quantification, definiteness) can reveal a continuum the landmarks of which have to be stated language particularly. Since the deverbal construct generates a noun phrase, the subordination markers will often be recovered from the inventory of adposition type relational markers. With respect to relativization, the designation ''headless relative'' sometimes obscures the necessary distinction between a clause in a modifier position in a noun dominated phrase and a deverbal noun in the same syntactic dependent position. Moreover, in languages that allow a certain degree of choice in discourse between a finite dependent clause and a deverbal modifier, the semantic and pragmatic correlates of each option must be highlighted. The diachronic recovery of finiteness properties by deverbal forms, often accomplished through a reanalysis of the nominal morphology, may cause changes in the alignment patterns. More specifically, the study of the relations between nominalization and subordination, if taking into account the so-called masdar form in the Arabic grammatical tradition, is very well-suited to shed a new light on that hybrid form known from many Tupi and Jê languages, which the tradition of Tupi-Guarani studies calls ''indicative 2''.

Word-Prosodic Systems An assessment of any typological feature in South American indigenous linguistics is premature. Although for certain families (e.g. Tupi-Guarani) available descriptions are sufficiently good and numerous to allow for interesting family-wide observations, for many others there is almost nothing. This is especially true regarding the characteristics of the word-prosodic systems (stress or tone based) that exist in the Amazonian languages. Even among the 'well-documented' languages, very few have had their word-prosodies analyzed in a meaningful way. The descriptions are mostly sketchy, sometimes no more than a generic statement and contain few, if any, examples. A systematic consideration of word-level stress and/ or tonal patterns including detailed accounts of morphological or lexical conditioning is rarely encountered. Terms such as 'pitch accent' are used often with a vague definition and are employed to refer to systems that are very dissimilar. For this conference we wish to invite papers that present detailed analyses of word-prosodic systems in the Amazonian languages, preferentially based on laboratory evidence.

The abstract should be no longer than 2 pages including
examples and bibliography, single spaced, Times New Roman,
pitch 12. The abstract should be send in both Word/W and
PdF formats to the local organizers.
Message 2: La scalarité dans tous ses aspects

Theme Description Extended Deadline! Nowadays the concept of scalarity appears in studies devoted to highly varied phenomena such as quantification, gradation, comparison and intensification. It presupposes mostly the existence of a value-scale on which the properties highlighted by the utterance are situated. The question is whether the scalar representation really supports these phenomena of quantification, gradation, comparison and intensification, and if, in the affirmative, it could allow to deal with a diversity of structures. On the 15th and 16th of December 2008 we would like to analyse the contribution of the concept 'scalarity' to the linguistic description, taking into consideration a lexical, semantic, syntactic and pragmatic approach.

1. Theme Description - Lexical approach The possible reference to a value-scale sometimes seems to be inherent to the lexical content of some expressions: so ''run'' differs, among others, from ''walk'' by referring to a higher speed of movement, and adjectives such as ''cold'' and ''icy'' both refer to different levels on the temperature scale. In lexical oriented studies, the expression ''scalar'' is associated with a range of categories - predicates, determinants, adjectives, nouns, adverbial expressions - which are considered as gradable or are referring to a progression by degree. The following questions deserve to be further investigated: (i) can the concept of scalarity be applied as easily to categories which are different?, (ii) is it conceivable to establish a relation between ''degree'', ''gradation'' and ''scalarity''?

- Semantic approach Progressing on one or various scales can activate the comparative system. Thus, the study of comparative structures permits to fine-tune the usability of the notion of scalarity and the reference to value-scales, as well as the link with high degree expressions: You will make a deep impression by driving such an expensive car. In this example, where the standard does not appear, the degree marker and the gradable notion refer to the highest level on the scale, instead of referring to a position on it. Furthermore, it is interesting to note the existence of the grammaticalisation processes, under whose influence an internal comparison system between two terms can lead to the expression of a comparison, overstepping the sentence limits: an evolution that will result in the appearance of logical links (au moins, Paul ne part pas sans nous dire au revoir ; cf. Bat Zeev Shyldkrot, 1995). In this respect, it is important to examine at which degree the scalar representation is underlying to the quantification and intensification phenomena and how it participates in the creation of discursive relations.

- Pragmatic approach In this approach, which is based on the formal pragmatics of Paul Grice, the notion of scale is used in a logical context when it concerns the ''scalar implicatures''. For instance, in the sentence ''Some athletes smoke'', the Maxim of Quantity is responsible for the implicature ''It is not true that all the athletes smoke''. Indeed, the locutor makes his contribution as informative as required and nothing more, thus the stronger affirmation ''all the athletes'' is false. Otherwise, in respecting the Maxim of Quantity, he would confirm that they all smoke. In using the scalar implicature, the weaker and stronger affirmations are being situated on a logical scale (some - all). Later on, the theory of conversational maxims and implicatures has been discussed and refined, often within the frame of studies on undefinite pronouns, negative polarity and free choice expressions. It would be interesting to check the scalarity hypothesis in order to have a better understanding of those expressions in context.

- On a syntactic level, some scalar structures do confront us with following problems: propositional reduction (cf. ''elliptical'' structures), syntactic scope (see e.g. the scope of adverbials), clause linkage (are comparatives subordinated clauses or not?), limits between parataxis / hypotaxis and coordination / subordination (where should we situate comparative correlatives etc.?). A final purpose of the colloquium is to work out a better comprehension of these syntactic phenomena when they concern scalar expressions. In order to find a response to all these questions, we invite you to share with us your point of view on this matter. All the disciplinary approaches are welcome, whether they are monolingual or multilingual. The official languages of the colloquium will be French and English.

2. Call for Abstracts Extended Deadline! Abstracts (RTF format) have to be submitted before 15th of May 2008 by mail to Pascale.HadermannUGent.be and to Valerie.WielemansUGent.be in the following form: - an anonymous abstract in French or in English which does not exceed 2 pages (A4 format) with body text Times 12 (bibliography included). The abstract has to indicate clearly: (1) the chosen theme (lexical, semantic, pragmatic or syntactic approach) (2) the title (3) the aims, the context and the methodology, the (provisional) results/conclusions. - a separated page mentioning your surname and first name, your affiliation, your postal address, your email and the title of your contribution. The submissions will be evaluated anonymously. Acceptance will take into consideration the following criteria: - Importance and originality of the paper - Empirical base of the analysis - Precision of the scientific content - Structure and clarity of the presentation.

3. Important Deadlines - Deadline for submission: 15th of May 2008 - Notification of acceptance: 30th of June 2008 - Program publication: 1st of October 2008 - Final subscriptions: 31th of October 2008 - Colloquium : 15th and 16th of December 2008 Place: Ghent University- Het Pand Onderbergen 1, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium)